2021 Chattogram City Corporation election

2021 Chattogram City Corporation election

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Registered	19,38,706
Turnout	22.52%(25.38pp)
Mayoral election
27 January 2021
Nominee Rezaul Karim Chowdhury Dr. Shahadat Hossain Party AL BNP Popular vote 3,69,248 52,489 Percentage 84.79% 12.05%
Mayor before election A. J. M. Nasir Uddin AL Elected Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury AL
Council election
27 January 2021 55 seats in the Chattogram City Corporation[a] 28 February 2021 (Re-election in 1 seat)
Party Leader Seats +/– AL Rezaul Karim Chowdhury 42 −4 BNP Dr. Shahadat Hossain 0 −7 Jamaat-e-Islami — 0 −2 Independent — 13 +13 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

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The 2021 Chattogram City Corporation election was a local government election in the city of Chattogram, Bangladesh, held on 27 January 2021 to elect the Mayor of Chittagong and the Chittagong City Council. ^[1][2][3]This election was marred by violence and it was not seen as a free,fair and credible election.

The Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) is the governing body responsible for the administration of Chattogram, the second-largest city in Bangladesh.^[4] The term of the previous mayor, A. J. M. Nasir Uddin, elected in 2015, ended in 2020.^[5] The election was originally scheduled to take place in March 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

The election was mainly contested between candidates of the two major political parties in Bangladesh:

List of mayoral candidates

Party		Flag	Symbol	Candidates
	Bangladesh Awami League			Rezaul Karim Chowdhury
	Bangladesh Nationalist Party			Dr. Shahadat Hossain

Other minor candidates from smaller parties and independent candidates also participated.

The election was conducted using electronic voting machines (EVMs) in all 735 polling stations in the city.^[7] Around 1.92 million voters were registered to cast their vote.^[8] This was one of the first large-scale uses of EVMs in local elections in Bangladesh, a move that was both praised and criticized by various political parties.^[9]

The results were announced later in the evening on January 27, 2021.^[10] Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, the Awami League candidate, won the mayoral race by a wide margin, receiving approximately 369,248 votes,^[11] while Shahadat Hossain of the BNP garnered 52,489 votes.^[12]

Rezaul Karim Chowdhury succeeded A. J. M. Nasir Uddin as mayor of Chattogram.^[13] The Awami League also secured the majority of the councilor positions in the 41 wards of the Chattogram City Corporation.^[14]

2021 CCC council election results (party-wise)

Party		Leader	Councilor contested seats	Councilor elected in Seats	Ward Councilors	Reserved Women Councilors
	Bangladesh Awami League	Rezaul Karim Chowdhury	55	42 / 55	33	9
	Independent	unknown		13 / 55	8	5
Total				55	41	14

The election day was marked by reports of violence in multiple wards across the city. Several clashes were reported between supporters of the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP.^[15] In one such incident, a polling agent of a BNP-backed councilor candidate was killed, prompting further criticism of the law enforcement agencies and the fairness of the electoral process.^[16]

According to local media reports, around 20 people were injured in election-related violence,^[17] and allegations of vote rigging and irregularities were rampant.^[18] Despite these issues, the Election Commission of Bangladesh declared the election successful and largely peaceful.^[19]

After the Chattogram City Corporation Election of 2021, reactions were deeply divided. The ruling party, the Awami League (AL), celebrated the victory of their candidate, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury.^[20] They claimed that the election had been conducted fairly and that the result represented the will of the people of Chattogram. Rezaul Karim, in his post-election statements, promised to continue the development projects started by the previous mayor, A. J. M. Nasir Uddin.^[21]

On the other hand, the opposition, particularly the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), rejected the election results outright. They accused the Awami League of voter suppression, vote rigging, and using law enforcement to intimidate opposition supporters.^[22] Shahadat Hossain, the BNP candidate, demanded an investigation into the alleged irregularities and called for the election results to be annulled.^[23] The BNP also organized protests, claiming that the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) had made it easier to manipulate the results in favor of the ruling party.^[24] Shahadat Hossain's call for investigation was rejected and Rezaul Karim Chowdhury was sworn in as the 6th Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation on 11th February 2021.^[25] Rezaul Karim couldn't fulfill his term as Sheikh Hasina's regime fell in 2024 amid mass protests.^[26] On 19th August, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, along with the mayors of other city corporations, was removed from his position and replaced by the Divisional Commissioners.^[27]